A new blog and new adventure - well kind of a new adventure.

Hi Friends and Family, This will hopefully be our way of staying connected to you all and keeping you updated on our next big adventure, our return to Japan from August 2013 - September 2014. It's both new and old the adventure, I will be returning to Japan on the Japanese Exchange and Teaching Programme (JET), and will be yet again an assistant language teacher (ALT). I am curious about how the experience will be having done JET before and going from my high stress child protection job to something not as demanding. Regardless, Naoko and I are excited for Taiga to reconnect to his Japanese roots, Naoko is excited to bathe again in the hot springs, and I am determined to get that Japanese up to snuff!!

We will be living in Hokkaido, which is the most northern island of Japan. I was hoping for a warm beach for this return to Japan, but I guess we were not so lucky. Initially when I found out we were heading North, I was a wee bit dissapointed, however, the more I read about Hokkaido, the more I am excited to get to know a part of Japan that we may never had the drive to visit in the first place more intimately. It does look beautiful and I hear the people and the food are superb!  

For more info on Hokkaido and its natural beauty here is the main tourist site: We are specifically being placed in Kamisunagawa, population 4000. The town's official website is here: http://www.town.kamisunagawa.hokkaido.jp   Well here's hoping for an awesome year. We got some packing to do for the time being; as the year progresses will keep you all up to date with some awesome photos and stories as the weeks progress!

I think we may be placed in a housing unit with a bit of space to put up friends and family; would be great to see you our parts.  If you need to plan your visit here's the official tourist website: http://en.visit-hokkaido.jp

Taiga's ready to take on Japan!